Charting the Landscape of Corporate Philanthropy: A Bibliometric Exploration of Trends and Themes

Purpose: This study identifies the main area and current dynamics of Corporate Philanthropy (CP) and offers recommendations for future research directions. Design/methodology/approach: Using bibliometrics, we examined a sample of 558 studies from Scopus, an online abstract and citation repository, to examine the research activities relating to CP between 1955 and 2022. Articles and authors with high citation impact scores are identified based on the publication’s position and significance within the field. We then explore contemporary issues, identify possible limitations towards the development of the literature, and propose new lines of inquiry for future studies. Findings: In addition to providing an in-depth analysis, this study discusses recent discoveries and shifts in mindsets pertaining to Corporate Philanthropy, taking into account previously documented findings which regarded CP disadvantageous to many companies mainly due to money outflow. The ‘agency theory’ considers the relationship between a principal and its hired representative. Past reports cited managers leveraging on CP as a way to justify unnecessary expenses. Meanwhile, the latest studies discovered that CP brings in various advantages to the companies such as additional profit avenues, enhanced visibility, and stronger market presence, benefiting its stakeholders and securing the sustainability of those companies. Future research on CP can be expanded through our suggested research directions. Research limitations/implications: This study focuses on using the Scopus database as the primary source of the journals. Hence, our findings may differ from the studies conducted using other databases. Originality/value: This is among the pioneer studies using Harzing and VOSviewer software to analyse the development of CP studies. Several future research agendas are generated due to the review, which focuses on annual publication trends, the most prolific authors, the most cited papers, the most prolific countries, the most prolific institutions and the most abundant sources. Keywords: Corporate philanthropy, bibliometric analysis, citation network, Scopus, systematic literature review. Cite as: Aziz, N. F., Ramli, R., Mohd Amir A., & Wahid, H. (2024). Charting the landscape of corporate philanthropy: A bibliometric exploration of trends and themes. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 9(2), 160-184. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol9iss2pp160-184